Victor Perton
Victor John Perton (born 2 December 1958) is an Australian former politician and current advocate for optimism. He served in Victoria’s Parliament as the Liberal member for Doncaster from 1988 to 2006. He later became Victoria’s commissioner to the Americas, based in San Francisco, and founded the Centre for Optimism, where he is Chief Optimism Officer.
Born in Melbourne to Baltic refugee parents, Perton grew up there and studied economics and law at Monash University and the University of Melbourne. He also earned a Diploma of Chinese Law from Peking University. He joined the Liberal Party in 1976 and worked as a solicitor and barrister in five states. He was the first Australian parliamentarian with a website and the first to run an electronic town hall.
As an MP, Perton was known for openness and accountability. He held several shadow portfolios, including Conservation and Environment, Multimedia, Technology and Innovation, and later Shadow Attorney-General. He was active in freedom of information and scrutiny of government and served as a delegate to the UN’s Second Conference on Human Rights.
After leaving politics in 2006, he worked as an independent company director and barrister. In 2008 he was appointed Victoria’s commissioner to the Americas, based in San Francisco. He has served on boards such as the Transport Accident Commission and Yarra Valley Water, and has been involved with Australia-Latin America relations and other public bodies. He is also the Ambassador for Intelligent Water Networks.
In 2019 Perton founded the Centre for Optimism to promote optimistic leadership. He has written The Case for Optimism: The Optimists’ Voices and Optimism: The How and Why (2025). He helped develop the Optimism Economy and the Framework for an Optimistic National Narrative with Anand Kulkarni and Robert Masters. He hosts the podcast That Optimism Man and teaches public policy at the Australian Public Service Academy.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:01 (CET).